The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1887-10-12
and slways eat bits Of small sardines,

and always eat bits Of small sardines
or sailed olives, or pistache nuts be-.
fore meals as appetizerA Vegetables
enter largely into their diet and
among ali tomatoes are the favorite.
and scarcely any dish is considered
complete without them. though they
never eat them raw.
To preserve tomatoes for winter use
they mash them through colanders
aud then throw salt in, which causes
the pulp to settle, and they are put in
bags and the water left to drain away.
The pulp is then dried in the shade.
spread on fiat surface, and when dry
1t is cut in small cakes and laid care
fully in jars, which are covered. This
pulp retains the taste and qualities of
the tomato better than canning does.
Okra is another favorite vegetable,
and this is cooked with chicken, veal
and mutton, with tomatoes,
much as gumbo is made. They
preserve okra, which they call
balmia, by stringing it and hanging it
up to dry, as we do apples. When this
is boiled it tastes fresh and sweet and
grows green in the water again as
though it were freshly picked.
In stewing meat it is usually boiled
until the meat falls from the bones.
and it is always fried little before
boiling to give it richness S,ewed
mutton with prunes or apples OF
ounces is favorite dish. This is salt
ed and sweetened both, and is not
pleasant to strangers. Stewed prunes
and stewed raisins usually wind up a
dinner. Bread and pancakes are
served with dinners, and sherbct OF
fruit juices favored with flower es.
sences and cold water are the usual
drinks at meals, coffee after, and raki
or mastic before. Potatoe, are cooked
in many ways, the incest being keftai,
which are cakes made of mashed pota-
to and egg and flour beaten light and
fried in boiling fat Beans and lima
beans are boiled with potatoes and
butter, and sometimes onions, and are
nice. Squash, which are small and
green. are stuffed with minced meat
onions and boiled rice, and then baked.
Cucumber squash are also stuffed and
baked, as we'll as eaten raw. One kind OF
stew is made of mutton and green
peas; another has meat and all kinds
of vegetables. Egg plant is cooked in
many ways, each and all being very
good, and it would be we'll for our
housekeepers to try them at least
once.
Imam bailde is the name of one
style, and means that tho Imam or
priest tainted from excess of pleasure
at his delicious meal. To make it,
take an egg plant and cut places in
the sides and insert slices of onions
seasoned with pepper and salt and
then tie it up and plunge it into boil
ing oil and lot it get done. They are
certainly good cooked in this manner.
Another very excellent way of cook
ing egg plant is to cut meat in pieces
about two inches square and put them
to cook with sliced onions and toma-
toes, equal quantities, with a very lit
tie water and seasoning, and let them
cook until within three-quarters Of an
hour of being done; then cut fair
sized egg plant into pieces without
peeling it, about two inches square,
and add them, covering all tightly and
letting them boil three-quarters of an
hour. Serve all together.
Mou~saka is another form, and it is
more liked by foreigners than either of
the two other ways of cooking. To
make it, take one pound and a half of
minced beet, and fry it in butter until
done, or about five minutes. Slice an
eggplant and fry the slices until done,
and before this about q quart of strain
ed tomatoes should have been we'll
boiled and seasoned When the meat
and eggplant have been fried separ-
ately, they should be placed in layers
in deep pan and the tomato sauce be
poured over them, and the pan should
be set back to boil gently about FIVE
minutes This is most delicious dish.
Onions, sliced and laid in alternate
layers with crackers and tomatoes, and
seasoned with salt, butter and pepper,
and boiled or baked slowly for four
hours, are also very NICE Olive Har-
per, in Chicago Inter- Ocean.